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Carr Fire bear, Jimmy the cat and Eres the python: Where are they now?

The Carr Fire displaced thousands and caused disruptions that still linger for those Shasta County residents.

Many of those affected by the fire weren't just the people whose homes were destroyed by the deadly blaze. Some of those whose lives were upended by the fire walked on four legs, had tails and even slithered upon the ground.

Count among those Jimmy the cat, who spent nine days in a storm drain; a California black bear that underwent a novel treatment for her burned paws; there also was Eres the 14-foot python who escaped while her owners evacuated during the fire.

With the dawn of a new year upon us, we felt it was time to get caught up on the latest news of those in the animal kingdom who made news during the Carr Fire.

Carr Fire bear gets bad cellphone reception

When it comes to the Carr Fire bear, "where are they now?" is a question the California Department of Fish and Wildlife would love to answer.

Unfortunately, cellphone service being what it is out in the woods west of Whiskeytown Lake, biologists aren't sure how the bear has fared since she was released back into the wild Sept. 12.

The bear, estimated at the time to be about 18 months old, gained widespread notoriety when utility workers found her near Whiskeytown Lake in early August suffering from serious burns to her paws.

The young Carr Fire bear continues to recover from burned paws at a state vet facility in Rancho Cordova. Her caretakers' main goal now is to put some pounds on her so she's healthy enough for release.(Photo: California Department of Fish and Wildlife)

All four of her paws had third-degree burns, so she was taken to the state's Wildlife Investigations Lab in Rancho Cordova. There she underwent a novel therapy that involved bandaging her feet in tilapia skins rich in collagen.

When she was captured, she weighed about 50 pounds. Six weeks later the young bruin's feet were healed, she had gained about 25 pounds and was ready to return to the wild.

Wildlife officials said they had to be careful to return her to a location with plenty of food and water, which meant taking her to a location outside the Carr Fire burn area but still as close as possible to where she was found.

They also wanted to take her to a remote location, away from humans and homes. They settled on an area in eastern Trinity County about 3 miles down a dusty dirt road south of Highway 299.

The young Carr Fire bear continues to recover from burned paws at a state vet facility in Rancho Cordova. Her caretakers' main goal now is to put some pounds on her so she's healthy enough for release. California Department of Fish and Wildlife

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Eric Haney, a DFW environmental scientist specialist, said that unfortunately cellphone service in the area turned out to be a problem.

Prior to releasing the bear, they outfitted her with an ear tag they hoped would enable them to keep track of her by relaying her location, Haney said.

However, getting a signal from the tag required the bear to be in an area with good cellphone service. That didn't happen, Haney said.

Wildlife officials have not received any signals from the tag since the bear was released, he said.

They originally planned to use a Verizon transmitter which would have worked in the area where the bear was released, Haney said. However, the transmitter malfunctioned, so they used an AT&T chip, he said.

"Unfortunately, out there, there isn't AT&T coverage," Haney said.

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The bear that was treated for injuries in the Carr Fire was released into the wild Wednesday in Trinity County.(Photo: Damon Arthur/Record Searchlight)

That is good news and bad news, he said.

From a science perspective, it would have been good to learn more about her habits by receiving notifications from her tag on her whereabouts, Haney said.

But he said if something bad had happened to the bear, such as being shot by a hunter, the department hopefully would have been notified. Hunters are asked to report to officials if they shoot the bear.

They were also notified by a note on the ear tag that if she is shot her meat should not be consumed because of the chemicals used to sedate her, he said.

So to Haney, hearing nothing about the bear is better than getting bad news about her, he said.

Eres and her owners fled to a home in south Redding. But during the hubbub of being displaced and living in a strange place, Eres slithered out of her 2-foot by 4-foot plastic tub and sought refuge somewhere in a neighborhood off Rancho Road.

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Eres, a 14-foot long pet python escaped from its tub Saturday night.
Redding Record Searchlight

She wasn’t gone long, though. A couple days after she disappeared she was found curled up in a milk crate in the backyard of a nearby home, her owners said at the time.

Since those chaotic days during the first week of the Carr Fire, life has returned to normal for the python, a lavender albino reticulated python who is actually yellowish in color.

“She’s doing fine. She’s in a big cage in the back room,” said Ryan Allinger, who manages the Redding Reptiles store.

"My wife doesn't want anything to do with that lot," Miller said of their Land Park property. "It (Carr Fire) scared her pretty good."

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Toni Miller stands near the storm drain where the Millers' cat, Jimmy, escaped the flames of the Carr Fire and survived. What remains of the Millers' Land Park home is in the background.(Photo: David Benda/Record Searchlight)